


It's a promise, not some cheap romance

by epithalamium



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Actually a drabble, Character Study, Gen, Let me put my obvious extended metaphor into your foreshadowing, M/M, Might need to see someone about that, That's probably panic attacks Eren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-27
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-24 19:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/943980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epithalamium/pseuds/epithalamium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin shows Eren a book. (aka that scene needs more slash undertones?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a promise, not some cheap romance

**Author's Note:**

> Title: It's a promise, not some cheap romance  
> Characters/Pairings: Eren Jeager, Armin Arlert, Reiner Braun  
> Rating: PG  
> Disclaimer: Shingeki no Kyojin and all related characters is to Isayama Hajime and associates.  
> Summary: Armin shows Eren a book  
> Word count: 1,100~

*

When he was very young, Eren sometimes felt a certain restlessness, the need to do something mixed with the dread of time passing too quickly, the fear that it was already too late. Something about dusk that triggered these feelings, the time when it was neither light nor dark, a transition, and he made sure he was safe at home well before sunset, lighting the lamps so that his mother would complain. But it created an illusion of safety; the familiar trappings of the kitchen and the blaze of light that kept the grey shadows outside the windows.

He’d gotten so used to the feeling and the ritual that accompanied it, the onset of anxiety before night fell and the smell of the lamp wick catching fire, that he’d stopped thinking about it. He couldn’t remember if he even tried to rationalise what he felt. His father would laugh while his mother worried. But in time they grew accustomed to Eren’s so-called foibles.

The night held no terrors for him, Eren loved to stay up late and cherished the moments when his father would let him tag along when Dr Jaeger’s services were required by a sick villager. By day, troubled by chores and schoolwork and play, Eren would forget his unexplainable fears.

He was sitting by the riverside, waiting for Armin, when it all started to make sense. It was as if he’d been worrying about a piece in a puzzle, but then stepped back and saw that it belonged to a bigger whole. But that was later. Right then, Eren was throwing pebbles into the river and thinking about the technique needed to make the pebbles skip on the surface of the water like his father had shown him once.

Armin had come running towards him with a book clutched to his chest and an expression of wonder and excitement on his face. Eren looked up when Armin shouted his name, and there was something about Armin—the way his hair shone under the light of the sun, or the blue of his cardigan, or maybe the way he was smiling—that made Eren think of summer. It was early in spring and the weather held traces of winter still, but Eren suddenly felt warm and comfortable. Comforted.

‘Look at this!’ Armin said, kneeling down next to where Eren was sitting on the grass. He spread the book open between them, almost careless in his excitement although Eren remembered how gently Armin usually treated the few books in his possession. 

‘What’s that?’ said Eren, leaning over so that the top of his head almost touched Armin’s. Books didn’t interest Eren that much, but this one had illustrations aside from words, and the pictures were nothing like Eren had ever seen before.

‘It’s all about the world outside the Wall,’ explained Armin. ‘I found it. My grandfather had hidden it under a pile of old rags and mending.’

‘No wonder,’ said Eren. ‘We’re not allowed to have books like that! They’d throw you in prison if they see you carrying it about.’

‘Forget about that,’ said Armin. ‘It says in this book that most of the world is covered by a huge body of water known as the sea. And it’s entirely made up of salt water!’

‘Salt water!’ said Eren. ‘That’s a load of crap.’ His mother would not have approved of such language, but Armin never told tales. It was one of the reasons why Eren liked him. ‘You know how valuable salt is. The merchants would have used it all up by now.’

‘No!’ said Armin, not to be deterred by Eren’s lack of enthusiasm. ‘The sea is large enough that it would never dry out!’

‘Well, sure,’ Eren started to say, but Armin was looking at him and there was that feeling of warmth again, except with something else this time. A promise of more. Things that were beyond imaginations confined by the Wall. The real world. Outside.

‘But the sea isn’t the most amazing thing by far,’ said Armin, looking back at the book and turning the pages so he could show Eren. ‘There are also landscapes of ice. Entire fields of sand! All sorts of funny looking animals! Just imagine, _our_ world doesn’t even begin to cover a quarter of that space outside.’

‘Outside the Wall,’ Eren breathed out. He had no idea—no one did, it was the price humanity had to pay for safety—he couldn’t even begin to imagine the things that Armin was talking about. But he would remember that as the moment when he stood back and finally _saw_.

‘Eren,’ said Armin, ‘If we could explore, if only we could see it for ourselves someday—’ Armin’s voice trailed off. He didn’t need to finish the thought. It was all there, in the book that might get Armin and his grandfather in trouble with the authorities, in the brilliance of Armin’s eyes, and his flushed face. Eren’s heart was hammering against his chest and he felt anxious, but in a good way. Nothing like how he usually felt when dusk fell, bringing with it the doubts and the thought of something, something he couldn’t name, waiting. Something he was finally beginning to grasp.

*

‘Is that when you fell in love?’ said Reiner.

Eren had been about to drink his coffee, he had been talking for a while and his throat felt dry, but he looked up at Reiner and narrowed his eyes. ‘What do you mean?’

Reiner shrugged. ‘I think you know what I’m talking about.’

‘It was a promise, not some cheap romance,’ said Eren, placing his cup on the step where he and Reiner were sitting. The coffee had gone cold. ‘I shouldn’t have bothered telling you anything.’

‘Memories don’t get cheapened by love,’ said Reiner. 

‘No,’ said Eren, grudgingly. ‘But that wasn’t the point of the story.’

‘We could forget,’ said Reiner, by way of a peace offering, ‘I ever said anything.’

The door behind them opened, allowed a slice of light from the mess hall outside. They both turned to see who had opened the door; Eren squinting against the sudden illumination, although Reiner remained in the shadows. 

‘Eren?’ Armin called out. ‘And Reiner. What are you doing out there in the dark?’

‘Nothing.’ Eren gave Reiner a look. ‘Just looking at the stars.’

‘Maybe we should get back inside,’ said Reiner, collecting his empty cup and making as if to stand up. ‘I could hear Jean making an arse of himself again.’

But Armin was already walking towards them, and Eren moved so that there was more space between him and Reiner. 

‘Later,’ said Armin, sitting down the step at Eren’s feet. ‘It’s nice here outside.’

*


End file.
